A Hingham police officer and a 71-year-old Hull man were treated for injuries Thursday after the man’s car plowed into a police cruiser stopped along Route 3A, police said.

By Neal Simpson

The Patriot Ledger, Quincy, MA

By Neal Simpson

Posted Nov. 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 30, 2012 at 7:42 AM

By Neal Simpson

Posted Nov. 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM
Updated Nov 30, 2012 at 7:42 AM

HINGHAM

» Social News

A Hingham police officer and a 71-year-old Hull man were treated for injuries Thursday after the man’s car plowed into a police cruiser stopped along Route 3A, police said.

Both men were treated and released Thursday, police Sgt. Steven Dearth said. The Hull man, David J. Collins, has been cited for driving negligently to endanger and making an unsafe lane change.

Hingham police have also applied to the Registry of Motor Vehicles to have Collin’s driver’s license revoked as an immediate threat.

Dearth said officer Daniel Leary pulled a Scituate teenager over for a traffic violation near Fottler Road around 4:30 p.m. Thursday and had just climbed back into his police cruiser to write a citation when the 2009 Hyundai Sonata slammed into the vehicle from behind. Police said the cruiser had its flashing lights activated and was pulled over in the right-hand travel lane at the time of the crash.

After the crash, Collins told an officer he had tried to press on the brake to stop but had hit the accelerator instead, Dearth said.

A witness who stopped after the crash told police she had been driving behind Collins from Quincy and saw him driving “all over the road,” Dearth said. Officers reported that Collins showed no signs of being under the influence of drugs or alcohol.

The police cruiser and the car were considered a complete loss, police said. The car that had been pulled over was also damaged when the cruiser lurched forward and struck it, but could be driven away from the scene.

Dearth said the officer’s injuries could have been much worse if he had been climbing in or out of his cruiser when it was struck.